One month later.
The coastline near the TPC Far East Headquarters.
All the members of GUTS stood in a single file, staring intently at the striking figure ahead.
Camilla slowly reached her hand forward.
That was the edge of the barrier. It had already been proven that normal humans could pass through freely, and even Yin Xi could.
Yet Camilla had always refused to test it, choosing to stay cooped up in the base and go nowhere.
Finally, after relentless pestering from Rena and Yin Xi, she agreed to give it a try.
As her slender fingers were about to touch the boundary, Camilla distinctly felt a wave of repulsion and a burning sensation.
She wanted to give up right then and there, but seeing Yin Xi and Rena looking at her with eager, pleading eyes, she let out a helpless sigh.
Without further hesitation, she thrust her entire arm straight forward.
The expected impact never came. Instead, it was replaced only by a faint burning sensation and an arm that reached entirely outside the barrier.
Seeing this, the others behind her burst into cheers instantly.
Yin Xi jumped up onto Camilla's shoulder in delight, wrapping his arms around her neck and shouting non-stop.
"Ha, haha! Yuzare's barrier does nothing to my big sis, hahahaha!"
Iruma Megumi, who had been weighed down by worries all this time, finally heaved a sigh of relief at this sight.
She had been well aware of the changes in Camilla's mood over the past few days. Because this so-called barrier had appeared on her account, Iruma Megumi had felt an indescribable sense of guilt. She had basically agreed to every single request Camilla made.
Camilla was extremely happy, but soon became puzzled.
*Why wasn't I blocked by the barrier? Has it weakened, or is there some other reason?*
"That sense of repulsion is still there, but it no longer stops me from coming and going," Camilla told the others.
"Oh, who cares? Anyway, big sis, you can move around freely from now on."
"That's right! Finally, we can go on missions together with big sis Camilla."
"Hey, what about me?"
Hearing Rena's words, Daigo pointed at himself with a grievance-stricken look.
Because for the past few days, he had been the one going on missions with Rena.
Rena chuckled, then put on the airs of an elder sister and gently patted Daigo on the head.
"You're teaming up with Shinjo and Yin Xi, of course."
In an instant, Yin Xi grew agitated.
"What the hell, Rena, are you trying to kill me?"
A fair number of Kaiju had appeared recently, and everyone had noticed that whenever Daigo and Shinjo flew a jet together, they were guaranteed to crash.
During their last meeting, Camilla had suddenly thought of the "Crash Duo" nickname Yin Xi had mentioned earlier and accidentally blurted it out during the conference.
The noisy meeting had gone dead silent, followed by uproarious laughter.
That was why Daigo had been paired exclusively with Rena for the past few days.
Realizing what Yin Xi meant, the people on the beach couldn't help themselves and burst out laughing at the two of them all over again.
Daigo and Shinjo didn't get annoyed; they just chuckled along with the rest.
As if remembering something, Yin Xi put away his smile and turned back to look at Iruma Megumi.
"Captain, you have an interview this afternoon, right?"
"Yes, what about it?"
"Nothing, just asking."
Meanwhile, in the quiet city, people were busy with their own affairs.
Inside the TV tower building, various staff members were bustling away, making preparations for the afternoon interview in full swing.
A man in a brown coat appeared out of thin air right among the crowd, then vanished just as quickly.
For some reason, no one noticed his appearance or disappearance. Everyone simply went about their own business.
"So, from GUTS's perspective, this giant named Tiga is friendly toward us humans, is that correct?"
"Yes. Ultraman Tiga possesses capabilities and a way of thinking beyond our imagination. We can already tell from this period that Ultraman Tiga leans more toward protecting humanity."
On camera, Iruma Megumi's intellectual and gentle face kept appearing on various display screens across the city, including the GUTS command room.
"Our captain is really photogenic," Horie remarked with a hint of emotion.
"Not bad, though she's still a bit behind me."
Ignoring the strange looks from his teammates around him, Shinjo puffed out his chest with confidence.
However, one person in the room was different.
Yin Xi was staring fixedly at the screen, as if searching for something.
If he only went by the original storyline, Yin Xi certainly wouldn't be worried about the Gijera appearing this time. But what he feared most was that deviations might occur because of his own presence.
Camilla also noticed Yin Xi's solemn expression.
She was about to ask, but the moment she saw the broadcast on the screen, she understood instantly.
The host, who had been impeccably dressed, had blue lightning dancing around her body since who knows when. She slowly floated into the air, her hair disheveled, with deep, dark circles around her eyes.
Iruma Megumi had already concluded the interview and was standing with her back to the floating host.
In a split second, Iruma Megumi sensed that something was wrong.
"Earth is about to be reborn. Holy flames will sweep across the land, and the Gijeraelod will rule the Earth."
As soon as those words fell into the air, everyone lapsed into silence.
*Ding! Quest issued: Survive the Gijeraelod's attack and protect the Earth.*
The system, which had been dormant for ages, suddenly popped up a quest in Yin Xi's mind.
Yet Yin Xi felt no joy whatsoever, because according to the original plot, this wasn't even much of a crisis—at best, it was just a practice run for Daigo.
Yet the system had deliberately issued a quest now, and the requirement was simply to survive.
Clearly, the system wasn't being kind enough to hand Yin Xi some cheat item.
While Yin Xi stood there lowering his head in deep thought, Camilla tugged at the corner of his shirt, signaling him to look up at the screen.
On the screen, the interview room had returned to calm.
However, through the windows, everyone could see a building some distance away from the television station engulfed in towering flames.
An explosion of unknown origin was sweeping through the entire street.
It shocked Iruma Megumi at the scene and everyone in the GUTS control room.
TPC Senior Executive Conference Room.
Iruma Megumi's expression looked rather grim.
Director Yoshioka was questioning her about her rash statements during the television broadcast, while Chief Nambara held an opposing view.
Right at that moment, the doors to the conference room were pushed open.
The person who walked in wore a GUTS uniform, followed by a beautiful woman in the exact same attire.
"Agent Yin Xi, Agent Camilla, why are you here?"
"I said it before, I will do my part to protect the Earth. As for my big sis..."
Yin Xi didn't finish his sentence; he merely swept his gaze across everyone present.
Though Yoshioka was irritated by someone barging into the meeting uninvited, his attitude shifted the instant he recognized Yin Xi and Camilla.
Yoshioka knew just how crucial the person before him was to the Earth.
"The Gijeraelod this time is not something the current TPC can handle."
Hearing this, a few people in the conference room still looked unconvinced.
Yin Xi didn't even give them a chance to ask questions, pressing right on with what he had to say.
"Don't compare the Gijeraelod to those previous monsters like Garkuma and Golza."
"They can alter their forms by absorbing the power of their own kind, and behind them stands the God of Gijeraelod."
"Their power is no less than that of the current Tiga, and we have no idea how many Gijeraelod are lurking on Earth."
"One or two might be manageable, but what about more? What are we going to do then?"
After listening to Yin Xi's words, Director Sawai took a deep breath.
"So, what should we do?"
"Develop new types of weapons."